Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
I f Scarlett had thought Kyle was persistent that night in July, by the time November rolled around, she thought of him as a dog with a bone. There would be no changing his mind.
Not that she had tried pushing him away.
Intent to Murder had been playing at Tequilaville once a month ever since that first night in July—and every time they were there, Kyle made sure to come over and flirt with her. Once, in a short break from orders in October, she’d been able to watch the band perform half a song, and she had to admit that he looked really hot on stage. His persona as a guitarist was much like she’d seen up close: confident, assured, and in his element.
His persistence was starting to wear her down.
If he’d been stalker-y, coming to the bar all the time or “accidentally” running into her while she was doing her usual day-to-day, she would have dismissed him outright. Instead, he’d only talked to her during the band’s usual shows. And, although he hadn’t missed those chances, he hadn’t forced himself upon her. Maybe he’d sensed her hesitancy, because he always made sure his presence was welcome before settling in on a stool.
In fact, over the past week, Scarlett had actually been anticipating the band’s next show. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving and Al had warned her that the bar would be packed. “The weekend before Thanksgiving?” she’d asked.
“Yep. The holidays bring people to us. There’s never a bad time to be a bar, but if there were, the holidays wouldn’t be one of those times.”
Although she’d remained dubious, she knew Al had been doing this long enough to know. He’d since sussed out that she’d exaggerated her credentials before coming to Tequilaville but, as he’d put it, she “had a way with people,” something he had no clue how to train. Everything else he and Denise could teach her.
And teach her they had. By now, she at least felt halfway competent behind the bar. She was no expert and probably never would be, but she no longer had to ask Denise a question every two minutes, and she felt confident enough that Denise could leave for an hour or two without her panicking, her phone at the ready to text a question if needed.
With that increased knowledge and speed came better tips. The first month she’d been there, Scarlett had feared that she wouldn’t be able to live on her earnings, but she now made more than enough to cover her monthly bills. It didn’t hurt that she didn’t drive much and the rent for her apartment was low. It also helped that Al was giving her more shifts as she got better—and, with the loss of one of their servers, there was plenty more work to go around.
Tonight was cold and, before the crowd arrived, the bar didn’t feel warm at all. Every time someone opened the front doors, a frigid blast would rush in, seeming to settle at the floor of the bar area, trapped in that tight space. Now that the building was full of warm bodies, though, the cold air wasn’t as noticeable and, as the demand for drinks increased, being busy made the temperature the farthest thing from her mind.
Kyle hadn’t stopped by the bar or even waved at her tonight, but he hadn’t done that before, so why had she hoped he would? It wasn’t until after his band played that he’d come by to see her. And it wouldn’t have mattered to her now had she not been thinking about him all day.
What was wrong with her?
A guy like Kyle probably had dozens of women in his back pocket. It didn’t matter that he was pursuing her patiently. She’d known other men who planted seeds of romance with almost every woman they met, watering those seeds with liberal flirting whenever they saw those women again. Although they loved simply being lusted after, they knew there was potential with most of those women if they ever decided they needed a little company.
It was disgusting.
She’d seen both her boss and the head chef at Sheldon’s do that—and she probably wouldn’t have noticed had the chef not done it to one of her friends, another server. Neither of them had seen it coming. The guy had seemed genuinely interested in her friend.
Until they’d slept together. Then he quit calling and coming around, as if he were going to catch a deadly illness.
Scarlett knew Kyle might be doing the exact same thing to her and she needed to be cautious. But it was hard, because he seemed so sweet, so sincere.
So real.
But was that just because he was giving the attention to her and not someone else?
Still, she had to admit it was nice being fawned over. It had been a while since a man had given her this kind of attention. Ever since she’d changed her hair color, she’d almost melted into the background—which was exactly what she’d wanted.
Why had Kyle noticed her?
She wasn’t sure, but she knew she’d already had her chance at love—and she’d blown it spectacularly. Lightning wouldn’t strike twice, so she had to stop allowing herself to find that man charming.
It was a little late for that, though. Because her heart had been considering him, she’d worn a little extra makeup tonight, put a few curls in her normally straight hair, worn big hoop earrings, and had slid into her jeans with the rhinestone pockets. She couldn’t run up to her apartment and change now.
Not that she wanted to. She was at war with herself—her heart versus her head. But it all went out the window when she and Denise got to the point that they were doing nothing but making drinks and collecting money as fast as they could.
Although she couldn’t give Intent to Murder her attention while she served the thirsty crowd, she could hear their music just fine—and she realized that she was starting to learn their songs. She even noticed she’d memorized the words to the chorus of “Cat Fight” and a couple of other songs without even trying.
The hour went by quickly and it wasn’t long before Impending Cataclysm started playing their set. Like with Kyle’s band, Scarlett had begun memorizing the words to many of their songs. They played Tequilaville more frequently, though, so she wasn’t surprised, even though their words were harder to understand.
The minutes ticked by and Scarlett didn’t notice it at first, because she was busy—but Kyle hadn’t appeared at the bar at all. Not that he always came to her right after their show…but she’d been anticipating him. Their last flirting session a few days before Halloween had even had her hoping he’d show up for Tequilaville’s costume contest.
He’d dared her to dress like Tinker Bell.
Surprisingly enough, the nickname was bothering her less and less…probably only because of Kyle. The way he said it wasn’t mean or derisive. Somehow, that made all the difference.
She and Denise were slammed, just like Al had predicted. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there to help out because he was visiting family out of state, meaning Denise would help out the servers with the drinks they didn’t know how to make. Al usually took care of them, leaving Denise and Scarlett to care for everyone crowded around them. Although the two bartenders had a couple of backups they could call, Denise had told her there’d be more money for them if they stuck it out together.
Scarlett was fine with that…at least now that she was better at the job.
It wasn’t hard noticing that Impending Cataclysm had finished their set because then they only had the noise of the crowd—so loud that she couldn’t hear the music that normally played in the bar. Even as busy as she was, she couldn’t help but realize that there was no sign of Kyle.
Maybe he’d found himself a girlfriend.
As the tips rolled in, Scarlett consoled herself with the reminder that she didn’t want or need a boyfriend anyway—or even just an interested man. It was better that way.
And that was when she saw him out of the corner of her eye, standing patiently behind several patrons waiting to be served.
Her heart started thudding in her chest and her hands grew shaky. What the hell was wrong with her? How could she make a gin fizz when her brain was going all haywire?
Then she remembered the trick her mother had taught her when dealing with anxiety. While she agitated the liquid in the shaker, she took a deep breath in through her nose and let it out slowly.
Then she did it again.
By the time she was adding club soda to the drink, her pulse had returned to almost normal.
But why was she freaking out?
She knew why. It wasn’t just because they’d established a flirty rapport or that he was a local rock star…although none of that hurt. It was the way he looked at her when he didn’t know she was paying attention. He didn’t seem like the possessive, aggressive type, the kind she was used to and avoiding.
He was something else, and she hadn’t quite figured out what.
And he was hot as hell. Tall, good looking. The way his dark brown hair hung, almost obscuring his eyes, made him seem mysterious, and a part of her wanted to delve into the unknown.
It was a bad idea, though.
He was hard to resist, because his icy blue eyes seemed to dance with delight when he saw her—and it was as if he knew she was in danger of falling for his charms.
As he got closer, she took another breath in through her nostrils and slightly parted her lips to let the air flow back out.
Then she smiled, ready to face him with a calm demeanor that wouldn’t give away any of the torrent of emotions roiling inside. And that was why it was good that his band only played at Tequilaville once a month. That made him far easier to resist.
Which was for the best—because she knew damn well her judgment was flawed.
“What’ll it be, Kyle?” she asked, impressing herself at how her voice sounded level and completely chill.
“Hey, Tink. Jumping right to the chase, huh?”
The smirk crossing her face was impossible to stop. “I don’t want to be accused of being bad at my job.”
“Ah.” Lifting an eyebrow, he slid onto a now-empty stool almost in front of her. “If I don’t give you my order right away, does that make me a bad customer?”
Unable to keep the amusement out of her voice, she said, “Possibly. I mean, delaying your order means other customers have to wait.” Then, smile still stuck on her face, she tilted her head as if waiting patiently.
“That’s true. But I have been called an asshole a significant number of times throughout my life—and most of the time, it’s been a fair assessment.”
Scarlett all but frowned. “Well, I haven’t seen you act like an asshole yet—and, believe me, I’ve known some big ones.” Like her ex, for instance. “Besides, didn’t you know we don’t serve assholes here?”
Kyle chuckled. “Oh, yes, you do. I can personally vouch for that—but maybe those assholes have been hiding their true nature.”
A customer standing behind Kyle glared at Scarlett, indicating that she was thirsty too and didn’t much appreciate the time-wasting banter, even though she probably couldn’t hear what they were actually saying. “Do you mind if I get the order of the woman behind you really fast?”
“No. Go for it.” Before Scarlett could address the woman, he added, “I think that earns me a few non-asshole points.”
“It does .” Still grinning, she raised her voice, asking the woman, “What can I get for you?”
“I need four cherry bombs.”
Instead of waiting for one of the cocktail servers, the woman had come directly to the counter—which was fine. That meant Scarlett would get the entire tip—if this woman bothered. If the scowl on her face was any indication, Scarlett would be lucky to keep the change. In addition, this was a drink she’d only ever made once before—so she had to look it up. But, minutes later, she placed four red drinks on the counter and took the woman’s money.
And the woman hadn’t stiffed her.
Turning her attention back to Kyle, Scarlett said, “Did that give you enough time to make up your mind?”
His expression looked almost serious, but there was a light dancing in his eyes. “I’d made up my mind before I even sat down.”
Were they still flirting…or was he about to say something unexpected? Until then, she was going to keep up the light banter. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”
“I think we should go on a date.”
Wow. Okay. Yeah…that had definitely been unexpected. Still, she could take it in stride. “Really? What makes you think that?”
“Well, every time I sit down here, we have some interesting conversations. I’d like to see if we could sustain it for an hour or two.”
No…she was bad at picking men. Even though Kyle seemed cute and sweet and hot, fun to be around and not an asshole, despite his earlier warning, she knew it could all be an act. All guys put on their best faces when they were trying to win a woman’s heart. Once he’d made that conquest, he would show his true colors.
Kyle would be no different. And she wanted to remember him just as he was right now: almost perfect.
“I think we’ll have to do it here. I don’t know if I’m allowed to date customers.”
His laugh was boisterous and loud, even over the music. “If that’s true, you’ll have to scratch most of Silver City off your list.”
“Look, Kyle, you’re a nice guy—and I do love chatting with you. But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
She felt relief as she noticed that her words hadn’t hurt him. Not a bit. “Maybe not—but I’m going to ask you again. Not today but I will.”
Hopefully, another woman would catch his eye and then Scarlett wouldn’t have to fight to resist him. But the thought of him bringing another female to the bar made something ugly wriggle around inside her.
Was that a bit of jealousy?
That was stupid. She barely knew him—and she had no claim to the man. Even less now that she’d turned down a date.
“As long as you’re not an asshole about it.” With a wink and a grin, she asked, “So what’ll it be?”
Kyle, a faint smile still turning up the corners of his mouth, shook his head…and then ordered a beer.
As she poured it into a glass, she reminded herself that it was for the best.